COMPTON THICK AGN: THE PHYSICS BEHIND THE OBSCURATION

The Xray spectral analysis of Compton thick (CT) active galactic nuclei (AGN)represents a fundamental step to understand the physics of the obscuringmaterial surrounding accreting supermassive black holes. We propose to targetwith a combined NuSTAR/XMMNewton observation two candidate CTAGN selected fromthe BAT 100month volumelimited (z<0.03) sample. Thanks to the excellent countstatistics, we will be able to constrain several spectral parameters (e.g.,relative importance of the scattered component versus the direct one, geometryof the obscuring torus, equivalent width of the Iron emission line). Thisanalysis will refine our knowledge of the selection function of CTAGN,therefore helping us in determine the true intrinsic fraction of CTAGN and their contribution to the CXB. truncated!, Please see actual data for full text [truncated!, Please see actual data for full text]